spare wheel on bike carrier

[lefty]

Had a crazy idea this morning, I have fitted Firestone 205/75 on the 15" Audi rims which are larger diameter so the spare will not fit inside the wheel well so how about carrying it on a bike carrier?
Obviously this is only for short day/weekend trips and I will have to take it off to access the rear.
Did a test fit and this may just work. Good thing is that I can still fit 1 bike in front of the wheel.
Good/bad idea?
Any ideas on a better way to mount the tyre on with readily available parts? I cannot weld.

 

[catchya]

Lefty I reckon there will be too much movement. Too much top weight due to the rim and tyre and poor bike rack foundation.

The only suggestion I can give is to pm and see zippo up in the hills. From the looks of it you have the same towbar mounting system he uses and his totally legal engineered solution is stable as.

Cheers

Just noticed the rear licensed plate is blocked as well..

 

[ateday]

Can only suggest that you deflate your spare and it may fit in the well.
Means carrying a tyre pump.

 

[zippo]

Had a crazy idea this morning, I have fitted Firestone 205/75 on the 15" Audi rims which are larger diameter so the spare will not fit inside the wheel well so how about carrying it on a bike carrier?

I'm with catchya on this one. Bike carriers aren't up to the task.

Obviously this is only for short day/weekend trips and I will have to take it off to access the rear.

TBH, I'd go for a roofrack mount before I'd even think about the bike rack approach, and that has the bonus of leaving rear access unimpeded. Only downsides are wind noise, weight up high (but yours is alloy, so not too bad) and an increase in fuel consumption at speed. Of course, if you have an "event" that your trip is about, that may not be suitable.

Any ideas on a better way to mount the tyre on with readily available parts? I cannot weld.

If you want to stick it on the back and have it easy-fit-and-remove, what I did works for me. In my case, it was for 15,000km around Oz. And not being able to weld isn't a show-stopper or a bank-breaker. Feel free to wander up and have a bo-peep, you're entirely welcome.

 

[lefty]

thanks for the replies.
I've already got a roof basket and the spare on top will definitely be the first choice. I am not planning an epic 15000km journey so I do not want or need a dedicated spare carrier.
I'll shelf this idea for now but may look into it next time.
Just some thoughts:
Weight of Audi rim and tyre is 19kg.
Weight of average alloy bike is 15-17kg ( I carry 2 with this rack)
bike rack rating is 60kg, designed to carry 3 bikes.
towball downward rating is 100kg from memory.
So the spare wheel weight is well within the specs.
As for Catchya's concerns on movement, you get that with bikes anyway so I usually chain the bikerack to the D shackles on the hitch receiver.
I would think a wheel will have less movement than a bike as the weight is more centred.
Number plate obscured - again same problem with bicycles but easily solved.

 

[zippo]

thanks for the replies.
I've already got a roof basket and the spare on top will definitely be the first choice. I am not planning an epic 15000km journey so I do not want or need a dedicated spare carrier.

Fair enough.

Weight of Audi rim and tyre is 19kg.
Weight of average alloy bike is 15-17kg ( I carry 2 with this rack)
bike rack rating is 60kg, designed to carry 3 bikes.
towball downward rating is 100kg from memory.
So the spare wheel weight is well within the specs.

That tyre must be heavy - my bog standard MY07 steel with OEM Yokie is 19kg as well. Otherwise numbers are OK - my standard duty Hayman-Reese has a 75kg ball figure, so well within that.

As for Catchya's concerns on movement, you get that with bikes anyway so I usually chain the bikerack to the D shackles on the hitch receiver.
I would think a wheel will have less movement than a bike as the weight is more centred.

Movement IS the killer. Even the one-piece bike racks anchored under the ball wobble fore-and-aft a lot. Single bolt mounting with that sort of contact area isn't generally going to cut it. My carrier was designed to be rigid as, and on some severe corrugations/ruts at 100kph the movement was visibly farkall.

Number plate obscured - again same problem with bicycles but easily solved.

They *seem* to ignore that with bikes but get narky with anything else. Years back a picky plod had a go at me over the towball obscuring the numberplate on a VL Commie.

 

[idw]

I've the same size tyre and mine fits deflated. Does the audi rim have a greater offset than the stock rims? that's the only reason i couldn't see it fitting.

 

[Dulagarl]

I managed to fit a worn 215/75 r15 BFG AT on an Audi rim into the spare wheel well. Took a bit of bashing and its mostly deflated.

Part of the exercise involved fitting it with the valve side up, and inflating it a bit.

You should be able to fit your tyre.

aside from that, not a bad idea, but I would secure it at the bottom as well.

 

[NachaLuva]

As mentioned if you panelbeat the wheel well it should fit although you may have to deflate it a bit.

I found the Yokis to be very light. My Kuhmo muddies on the same Audi wheel are heaps heavier:

Kuhmo muddie on Audi rim: 22.5kg
Geolander ATs on Audi rim: 16.7kg
Bridestone Dueller HT on steel rim: 19.0kg

 

[tuckerbag]

Has anyone thought about the clip on bike carrier? They can support 3 bikes, more weight than 1 wheel already.

 

[lefty]

Has anyone thought about the clip on bike carrier? They can support 3 bikes, more weight than 1 wheel already.

I personally don't like them for wagons even for bikes. They have a support that presses on the rear windscreen glass and if you have a rear spoiler make sure you feed the strap underneath it. They sit higher than the towball ones so the tyre will be blocking the rear view. But the strap idea could be carried over to use the towbar mount together with straps to minimize movement.


This one's asking for a broken spoiler: